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Effects of industrial wastes on stream life

page 678

Effects of Industrial Wastes on
Stream Life
William Marcus Ingram
In Charge, Biological Field Investigations
and
W. W. Towne, Chief, Water Pollution Control
Water Supply and Water Pollution Research
Robert A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center
Bureau of State Services
Public Health Service
U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Cincinnati, Ohio
The environmental changes that may be brought about by industrial
waste effluents that can be detrimental to aquatic life (Figure 1) to
varying degrees are: decrease in dissolved oxygen to harmful levels;
increase in turbidity; formation of sludge deposits by settleable solids;
increase in chemicals to toxic levels; changes in pH toward extremes
in acidity or alkalinity; increases in temperature; tainting of fish flesh;
production of nutrients resulting in undesirable aquatic growths; and
concentration of radioactive materials in aquatic life.
This paper will deal mostly with four that are perhaps the most
subtle, namely: the effects of increased temperature; the effects of
particulate matter, as turbidity and settleable solids; the effects of
nutrients resulting in undesirable aquatic growths; and the relationship
of radioactive wastes to aquatic life.
It is emphasized that the detrimental effects of domestic sewage on
aquatic life should never be overlooked on industrial waste surveys if
untreated or treated wastes from industries and municipalities are
discharged into the same body of water. Also, one should fully recognize the overcoming scouring effects that high water may have had in
reducing aquatic populations at periods of high discharge before stream
surveys were initiated.
EFFECTS OF INCREASED TEMPERATURE
The pollutional effect of temperature increases on over-all aquatic
life associations has long been overlooked or ignored in natural waters.
678

Effects of Industrial Wastes on
Stream Life
William Marcus Ingram
In Charge, Biological Field Investigations
and
W. W. Towne, Chief, Water Pollution Control
Water Supply and Water Pollution Research
Robert A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center
Bureau of State Services
Public Health Service
U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Cincinnati, Ohio
The environmental changes that may be brought about by industrial
waste effluents that can be detrimental to aquatic life (Figure 1) to
varying degrees are: decrease in dissolved oxygen to harmful levels;
increase in turbidity; formation of sludge deposits by settleable solids;
increase in chemicals to toxic levels; changes in pH toward extremes
in acidity or alkalinity; increases in temperature; tainting of fish flesh;
production of nutrients resulting in undesirable aquatic growths; and
concentration of radioactive materials in aquatic life.
This paper will deal mostly with four that are perhaps the most
subtle, namely: the effects of increased temperature; the effects of
particulate matter, as turbidity and settleable solids; the effects of
nutrients resulting in undesirable aquatic growths; and the relationship
of radioactive wastes to aquatic life.
It is emphasized that the detrimental effects of domestic sewage on
aquatic life should never be overlooked on industrial waste surveys if
untreated or treated wastes from industries and municipalities are
discharged into the same body of water. Also, one should fully recognize the overcoming scouring effects that high water may have had in
reducing aquatic populations at periods of high discharge before stream
surveys were initiated.
EFFECTS OF INCREASED TEMPERATURE
The pollutional effect of temperature increases on over-all aquatic
life associations has long been overlooked or ignored in natural waters.
678